Israel's south remains quiet. In Jerusalem a Palestinian terrorist staying in Israel illegally carried out a stabbing attack, severely wounding an Israeli civilian. Israeli security forces exposed a Hamas network in Hebron whose operatives planned to carry out various types of terrorist attacks, including suicide bombing attacks In the Abu Tor neighborhood of east Jerusalem an extensive "popular resistance" (i.e., popular terrorism) network was exposed. Its operatives threw Molotov cocktails and stones at Israeli security forces and Jewish Israeli civilians living in the neighborhood.

This week, there were no significant changes in the various combat zones in Iraq and Syria. YPG’s Kurdish forces continue to repel ISIS from the rural area of Kobani. Turkey evacuated a Turkish enclave in Syrian territory located about 35 km south of the Turkish-Syrian border. ISIS, which is establishing its presence in Libya, used social networks for recruiting foreign fighters to fight in the ranks of the organization in Libya.

Other Arab Countries

The main event of the week was the crash of a Jordanian aircraft in Al-Raqqah and the capture of its pilot by ISIS. Fighting in Iraq and Syria continued in the major battle zones, without significant changes on the ground. A senior Iranian officer in the Revolutionary Guards, who served as advisor to the Iraqi Army and Shiite militias, was killed by ISIS.

In Syria and Iraq, the US-led campaign against ISIS continues. In the city of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) in northern Syria, the fighting continues with no decisive victory by either party. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for attacks against the US Embassy and an explosion near the home of the Iranian ambassador in Sana’a, Yemen. An American attempt to rescue Western hostages in Yemen failed and ended with two hostages being killed.

This study examines the nature of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), an Islamic Salafist-jihadi terrorist organization founded a decade ago as a branch of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. It established itself during the fighting against the United States in the Sunni regions of western Iraq and spread to eastern and northern Syria during the Syrian civil war.

The escalating anti-Shi’ite rhetoric from Sunni clerics belonging to different schools of thought reflects an agreement that the Shi’a is the enemy of the moment - one that is more pressing than the West and Israel.

The latest escalated round of rocket fire attacking Israel's south, which lasted for six days, has ended. The announcement of the victory of Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate for the presidency of Egypt, was received with celebrations throughout the Gaza Strip.